Ancient World History from a Global Perspective

During this past, rather warm summer, I began to think of what life must have been like without electricity for air conditioning, refrigeration, entertainment, and lighting. I also began to think about how different the foods we eat would have been without fast-moving, cold-storage transportion such as ships, rail cars, and trucks to transport items to our well-stocked grocery stores. Throughout our entire course of study, people did not have these benefits, so we must always keep this in mind.

In addition, topics of human-induced climate change and the long-term sustainability of our planet often appear in the news.

Therefore, during this course, we are going to examine the following two questions:

Question 1: What are the optimal conditions for the human species?

Answer 1: The human species does best under the following conditions:

climate: Temperatures- [1st] areas with long periods of warm conditions broken up by periodic cold spells (to interrupt the life cycle of many diseases); [2nd] dry subtropical areas with flowing rivers; [3rd] in some tropical areas with altitudes high enough to disrupt the life cycle of diseases. Precipitation: annual rains between 200-mm/yr (the minimum amount for rain-fed agriculture) and 800-mm/yr (wetter conditions bring an increased disease gradient).

biota: Microorganisms- not too many diseases; Flora- [1st] ceralculture humans do best with large-seed, carbohydrate-rich grasses such as wheat, barely, sorghum, millet, rice, maize, paired with protein-rich legumes, such as peas, chickpeas, lentils, beans, and micronutrient-rich plants, such as melons, fruits, vegetables. Due to their dry nature, cereals often can be stored for long periods of time. [2nd] vegeculture humans also do well with carbohydrate-rich tubers and roots, such as potatoes, yams, taro, and arboriculture (fruit and nut trees). Vegeculture and arboriculture plants tend to grow in warmer climates and usually have much shorter storage lives than cereals. Fauna- [1st] humans do best when partnered with large ungulates (hoofed animals) such as horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, camels, etc. [2nd] humans also enjoy animal protein from marines resources (shellfish and fish) and fowl, such as chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl, ducks, geese, etc.

Global Climate Change and Human History

I. Late Pleistocene World

Global Climate: colder and drier than today

Humans adapted to a wide-variety of ecological zones

Humans migrated around the planet

II. Early Holocene World

Global Climate: warmer and wetter than today

Humans entered into partnerships with plants and animals

These partnerships allowed for humans to increase their social and cultural complexity